


Love Lies Bleeding

by Suzie_Shooter



Category: Alex Rider - Anthony Horowitz
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Past Relationship(s), Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-23
Updated: 2013-03-23
Packaged: 2017-12-06 06:24:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/732446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Suzie_Shooter/pseuds/Suzie_Shooter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yassen discovers the truth about John Rider's death. </p><p>Written for the prompt of "h/c. 'How could a little English boy understand the needs of a Russian in agony?' Bonus points for the agony being emotional/spiritual rather than physical."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Love Lies Bleeding

Alex leaned in the doorway to the villa, silently studying the man on the far side of the courtyard. The flagstones were cool here, under his bare feet, and the lintel shaded his eyes from the strong Italian sun.

Above him, swallows darted and swooped under the eaves, dislodging flakes of old plaster that occasionally fluttered down on him, as if the world itself would decay the longer he hesitated.

Even at this distance everything about the other man's body language was telling him to keep away.

He wondered for perhaps the hundredth time whether it had been the right thing, to tell him. Whether he should just have kept his mouth shut. Let Yassen go on believing that - 

But no. Once Alex had begun to tell part of his story - he'd had to tell everything. Comforting lies were still lies, in the end. 

The one thing Yassen had never explained - still, after the revelations, wouldn't speak of - was the exact nature of his relationship with Alex's father. Although it wasn't as if Alex couldn't guess. Perhaps oddly, the idea didn't bother him as much as he suspected Yassen thought it would.

Maybe it would have been different if he'd ever known the man. 

Alex pushed himself out of the shelter of the crumbling house and walked steadily across the yard. The hard ground was dusty and the heat was already making his shirt stick unpleasantly to his back.

On the far side, a low crumbling stone wall marked the edge of the property, the only protection against a drop down to a tumbling vista of stony fields, splashed here and there with sunflowers and olive groves, and in the middle distance, the blue sweep of the sea. 

Yassen had been standing there for almost an hour, hardly moving. Just leaning on the wall, staring outwards. Hadn't spoken a word to Alex since he'd returned to the villa.

He'd been gone almost three days. 

Had gone to discover for himself the truth of Alex's words. 

Alex didn't want to think too hard about what that meant. He liked to imagine it meant finding someone to hack into MI6's data records. He suspected it meant finding someone who knew the truth first hand and - well. Yassen had always favoured the direct approach.

He drew level with the Russian and pulled himself up to sit on the wall, staring into his face, deliberately provoking.

"Go away." Yassen didn't even look at him, his words flat, emotionless. 

Somehow, Alex would have preferred him to be angry.

"You stay out here much longer you're going to get heatstroke. Don't expect me to clean up after you when you're a vomiting wreck." Alex's tone matched his for bluntness. 

He'd seen Yassen lose his temper precisely once, and decided then and there that he never wanted to be on the receiving end of that. But provoking him was the only way to get a reaction. And Alex needed a reaction, was tired of this stony, locked-up silence.

A movement in the corner of his eye caught Alex's attention. Perhaps disturbed by the sudden voices, a small black scorpion had emerged from a crack in the wall. It hesitated for a second, gleaming in the sun like polished jet, then started scuttling over the warm stones towards Yassen's hand.

Alex looked up at him quickly, a warning on his lips, only to see the Russian's gaze was also on the deadly creature. Alex looked down again. It was closer still, and Yassen hadn't flinched. Alex swallowed nervously. Part of him wanted to pull Yassen's hand forcibly away, to yell at him to move. Neither of which would do any good. He forced himself to stay silent, unable to tear his gaze away from its steady advance.

It was barely a finger's width away when Yassen finally lifted his hand. As Alex watched, he picked up a loose slab of rock, and brought it down heavily on the unfortunate scorpion. Turned and marched away into the villa without looking back.

Wrenching his gaze away from the still-twitching remains, Alex followed him inside.

He caught up with him at the end of the hall, grabbed Yassen's arm only to be shoved irritably and forcefully away. Alex steadied himself against the wall, sighed.

"You want to take it out on me? Fine." 

"Stay away from me Alex."

"Or what? You'll drop a rock on my head too?"

Yassen halted in the doorway to the bedroom, looked back at him. "Just - don't push it." He sounded tired, Alex realised, and wondered how much sleep he'd had over the last few days. 

"Look - " Alex kept his distance, warily. "I just want you to know that - I'm here, okay. If you need - you know. Anything," he finished awkwardly, knowing it sounded lame. "That I understand."

"Do you?" Yassen stared at him, coldly. "I doubt that somehow. How could you possibly?" he spat.

"What? Understand how it feels to be betrayed by someone you trusted? Let me think," Alex snapped. "And let's face it, he didn't exactly, did he? My father might have lied about who he was, what he was doing, but he never set you up, tried to kill you. He even saved your life for fuck's sake, you _told_ me that, was he faking then?"

"What are you saying?"

"Life's a bitch, get the fuck over yourself."

They glared at each other. Alex cracked first, slumped slightly. 

"I'm sorry. I'm _sorry_ , okay?" he said miserably. "I just - I'm sorry."

Yassen was quiet for a moment. 

"I loved him. I thought he - " 

Barely louder than a whisper, it came out sounding like a confession. 

"People lie Yassen. Even to people they love. _Especially_ to people they love. If he'd told you the truth - he'd have lost you."

Yassen remained silent and Alex shook him gently. "If you think I don't understand, then make me. _Talk_ to me Yassen", he pleaded. 

"How can I?" Yassen sounded almost lost, the words escaping reluctantly.

"Why not?"

Yassen gestured helplessly. "That I am this - affected - by the actions of another man, and so long ago - to feel I've lost him a second time - how is that not an insult to you, to what we have?"

Alex blinked, then pressed closer, winding both arms round Yassen's neck. 

"All I know is, you're hurting and I want to help and you won't let me."

Almost despite himself, Yassen let his arms slide around Alex's slim waist, looking into concerned brown eyes that were somehow far older than his teenage years should have allowed.

"Guess the universe has screwed us both about, huh?" Yassen sighed, half-reluctant to let go of the weight of painful memories that were all he had left of John Rider. But every second spent with Alex made him feel lighter somehow, in spite of his words.

Alex, watching his expression, must have seen something soften in his eyes, because he leaned in and kissed him gently on the mouth.

"Take me to bed," he whispered.

Yassen gave a short laugh, shaking his head. "That's your answer?"

"It's a good answer." Alex smiled at him. "Can you think of a better one?"

"Beats talking I suppose." Yassen gave in and smiled back, let Alex pull him by the hand into the bedroom. 

Alex dropped bonelessly to the bed, fingers already working on the buttons of his cotton shirt. Yassen, too, discarded his own before following Alex down, straddling his legs and trapping him against the thin covers. Yassen's skin was hot to the touch from too long in the sun, and Alex pressed hungry, eager kisses to his chest, his shoulders, his throat. 

Yassen took hold of his wrists, pinning them above his head and delivering his own trail of hard, biting kisses down the inside of Alex's arms, making him writhe underneath him in gasping pleasure.

Sitting back, Yassen ran an exploratory hand over the already blatant bulge in Alex's shorts, fondling the line of his erection with slow and possessive intent. Impatient, Alex started to fumble at his flies only for Yassen to slap his hands away.

"Mine."

Alex laughed, breathless, and held his hands up in surrender as Yassen swiftly stripped him of the rest of his clothes. Had to wait, hard and frustrated, while Yassen then removed the rest of _his_ , moving deliberately slowly and keeping an eye on Alex, whose fingers were twisted in the sheets to avoid the temptation of touching himself.

Finally, Yassen took pity on him with a feral smirk and lay back down, naked now, and pulled Alex to him. Alex didn't need a second invitation, wrapping himself around Yassen's hot limbs and pushing his rigid cock up against the Russian's matching arousal.

Yassen's mouth was on his, all demanding tongue, firm lips and faint scratch of stubble. Alex felt a hand slide between his legs and parted them obligingly, feeling rather than hearing the laugh this prompted.

Fingers inside him now, and he pushed down into the touch, breathing hard; his own hand working Yassen at the same time, moving on instinct, wanting only _more_ , and _harder_ , and _now_.

When he sensed Yassen was about to take him, Alex moved with a sudden speed, flipping them over so he was on top, grinning triumphantly. He took a second to stare down at his lover, apparently content for the moment to let Alex have his way, drinking in the sight of him, hard and flushed and barely controlled.

Alex spat into his hand, slicked Yassen's cock with it, hoping it would make the angle he was about to attempt less awkward. Raised himself up on his knees, a steadying hand around Yassen's erection, moved forward, and down. 

Yassen's hands were on him too now he realised what Alex intended, one propping him up beneath his armpit, one on his own cock, helping Alex position himself. 

Alex sank down slowly, hardly breathing, eyes wide. Took a moment to adjust, lifted up slightly, sank back. A jolt of pleasure shot through him, and he groaned at the same time as Yassen drew a sharp breath, making them both laugh. 

He was moving properly now, sliding up and down, Yassen's hands on his hips, helping him keep his balance. Alex was fisting his own erection as he rode him, watching Yassen watching him, a hot, possessive gaze that left no room for others.

Alex's legs were trembling and he could feel his orgasm building all too soon, the feeling of Yassen inside him, thrusting up to meet his down-strokes, the movement of his own hand, fast and tight and frantic. He wanted to make this last, but he also knew he couldn’t hold out for long. His free hand dropped to Yassen's forearm, clasping it in both warning and caress. Felt Yassen's fingers tighten on his hips and knew he was just as close.

A last few thrusts and Alex collapsed forwards over Yassen's chest, feeling his release pulsing between them, then feeling Yassen follow suit with a groan, both fighting for breath between desperate kisses.

\--

The early evening breeze blew off the sea and in through the open windows, making the curtains billow and bringing cool relief to the two men lying at rest in the tangled sheets. Too hot after their exertions for touching, they lay side by side, not quite asleep.

"You know," started Yassen after a while, then left a long enough pause that Alex turned his head enquiringly.

"Part of me - has felt like _I_ was betraying _him_."

Alex rolled over onto his front, looked down at him.

"By being with me?" he guessed astutely.

Yassen gave a slight nod. "In so many ways," he sighed, although it ended in a quiet, sheepish laugh.

"Well - " Alex wriggled closer and then climbed on top of him until he was sprawled full length along Yassen's body. "I figure he owes you." He kissed Yassen lingeringly, through a ripple of shared guilty, conspiratorial laughter. 

Yassen's hands, resting on Alex's hips, slid of their own accord down to the rise of his buttocks and Alex wriggled against him teasingly, feeling him start to harden all over again. 

"Perhaps I shouldn't dwell on the past quite so much," Yassen conceded, pushing up lazily into Alex's touch, freely accepting now the reassurance he offered.

Alex grinned, and started kissing his way slowly down Yassen's chest and stomach.

"Well if it helps I can tell you what's coming up in your immediate future?"


End file.
